Wine
by Hors D'oeuvres
Summary: I was never really interested in wine... until she convinced me otherwise.


Author's Note: This is my first HP Fanfic...

Hope you all like it. REVIEWS are very much encouraged and loved :D

This is told from the beautiful Hermione's POV. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, Fleur... anything HP related and also, wine. Don't sue. Me pooooooor.

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Wine

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**4:00 pm**

**Library**

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I watched her discreetly, instinctively, almost as unaware of my actions as I wished she was; with my pupils darting about in my eyes, the two of them flitting up to look at her from behind the book that I currently pretended held my undivided attention.

A formidable focus that was actually trained only on her, the stunning girl who was now sitting right next to me as she politely rejected another one of her determined and testosterone-driven admirers.

A lanky and tongue-tied teen who could only nod in awed embarrassment before running away like a kicked puppy.

A kicked puppy with its small tail between its itty bitty legs…

"Zat is eet."

I heard her softly sigh out in expertly concealed exasperation as she carefully turned her head towards me and gently pulled down what I was "reading" with her right hand.

Her wide blue eyes easily caught mine and I rolled my own brown orbs to mime a show of irritation as I noted how silent the library suddenly was: with only the two of us left in my favored secluded corner.

"Yes Fleur?"

I asked her with a purposely raised left brow.

She deftly took the book from my hands, closed it and placed it on the table in front of us.

"I 'ave 'ad enough of ze boys 'ere, 'Ermione. Or better yet, all ze boys everywhere."

She clearly stated as she folded her hands on her lap, making me roll my eyes again as I internally agreed with every single word that came from her lips.

It was indeed wearying and in my opinion, pretty pathetic; the way they kept coming and coming and coming- just to get rejected.

Again.

And again.

And again…

I breathed out a small sigh of my own.

"Well, in their defense, it is more than natural for them to be powerless in resisting the charms of a Veela such as you, Fleur."

Her soft pink lips deliberately formed into a small pout.

"Much as I'd love to disagree wiz you, mon amie. You are very much correct…"

Her right eye quickly gave me a playful wink. "As you _always_ are."

I smiled at the mischievous tone in her voice and then immediately widened my eyes in mendacious shock.

"Oh, what is this?" I breathlessly gasped out.

"The _great _Fleur agreeing with me on something?"

She shook her head slowly, the shining silver-blonde strands of her hair bouncing perfectly around her porcelain face.

"Oh 'ush 'Ermione, I am just getting tired of all of zem 'ounding after me and arguing wiz you will only deepen zat mental exhaustion."

I skillfully denied the smile that tugged at my lips and instead gazed back at her in well-practiced seriousness.

"Your excuses will not work on me Madame Delacour." I gravely intoned as I leaned back against my chair and lazily stretched my arms.

The entirety of my body almost stiff from sitting in the library for the whole day.

"Unfortunately so." She readily agreed.

"Most ozers would easily accept a simple smile and nod from me, but you. You just _'ave_ to dig deeper, don't you mademoiselle Granger?"

Her eyes deeply bored into my own as those words smoothly came out in the expected fluidity of her French accent, her well-shaped mouth lacing each and every letter with a certain… sensuality.

The round tip of her tongue shyly peeked out and lovingly moistened her bottom lip before slipping back in, an action that instantly caused me to swallow hard as I tried to gather all my suddenly incoherent thoughts.

"An act that always pays off in the end."

I quietly told her as I deliberately placed my hands at my sides and resisted the urge to curl up my fingers and clench my fists.

"Hmmm, indeed? Maybe, _I_ should follow _your _example in all zings zen?"

She quickly questioned before flashing a wide and indulging smile, one that visibly revealed her very white and even teeth.

I took a long moment to breathe in deeply before returning a mocking smirk of my own as I nodded condescendingly.

"With how you are now, maybe you should."

Her wide blue eyes lit up in mirth at my answer as a sweet and melodious laughter bubbled out in the space between us, a distance that suddenly seemed far too…

Wide, in my opinion.

"Ah… no." She finally said after a short while.

"In ze end, I do believe zat I'd razer not."

I shook my head at her answer and then turned my body to face her fully.

"Must you always be so contrary?"

She looked directly at me and then nodded her head in complete severity.

"Oui, to you zat is," was her immediate answer.

"I find ze facial expressions zat I elicit from you quite interesting."

Her words quickly registered in my mind as I shook my head again, wondering if everything she would say for the remaining duration of our conversation would just inspire me to cast a spell to turn my face into mask that wouldn't show anything at all.

"Incorrigible." I finally muttered as I reached out with my right hand to reclaim my discarded book, deciding to use it as a barrier between the two of us once again.

"Indeed…" She softly concurred as she deftly caught my hand in her left one and gently pulled it onto her lap, an action that automatically caused a sudden heat to rush up to my face and vividly color my cheeks red.

Something that she easily ignored as she smoothly entangled her slender fingers with my own to prevent any form of escape.

"But enough about me for now zough, tell me, 'ow about you?"

I blinked at her in confusion as I felt my entire right arm seemingly freeze and grow numb by the second; a cold, electric-like sensation running up my nerves from the areas where her flawless skin touched mine.

"How about me what?" I thoughtlessly asked when I had finally regained at least even just a semblance of control; of the composure that immediately left as soon as I could feel her on my palm.

"Oh don't be so coy, ma petite fille."

She teasingly answered with a challenging grin on her lips.

"I see zem all ze time, zose little boys running after you like 'ungry dogs who 'ad zeir little 'eads cut off."

Her elegant left brow rose suggestively as I felt my jaw tighten at her words.

There was no doubt about what she meant.

And there was no doubt about what my answer would be.

No matter how hard it would be to say it…

"It-It's not what you think it is Fleur," I carefully started before taking a deep breath and forcing myself to keep another stutter from my lips.

"It's nothing like that at all. I mean, those "hungry dogs" as you call them," I quietly continued as I hesitantly squeezed her hand.

"They… they don't…"

The tightness in my throat increased even more so, immediately cutting of the motions of my vocal chords and forcing me to close my mouth.

Fleur's hand moved slowly, almost warily against my own, as if she was afraid that she would scare me and make me run away, as her steady gaze intensified.

"Zey don't what, 'Ermione?" She finally asked after a long silence.

I smiled weakly in defeat.

Nothing but the answer would satisfy her.

"They don't see me…"

I firmly finished, aware of how her thumb tenderly began to trace small circles against the back of my hand: an act that easily caused me to quickly avert my gaze and purposely look down.

"They run after answers," I reluctantly explained.

"Answers to their quizzes, answers to their homework and answers to their essays… they look _to_ me for knowledge. They don't look _at_ me. No one does…"

Those words left my mouth in an inexplicable hurry, as if my body was doing its best to expel all of them in a single breath.

As if getting them all out, as hastily as I could, would make them untrue.

Or at least insignificant to me…

And hopefully to her.

The only one who I actually wished would see me.

I sighed even more deeply at the thought and could only watch as her free hand reached out and tenderly cupped my chin.

"Are you interested in wines 'Ermione?"

She softly asked after deliberately leaning forward, her beautiful face now so unbearably close to my own that I could feel her warm breath bathe the edge of my ear.

A sensation that easily prompted an involuntary shiver to slide down my spine and wreak havoc on my unsuspecting body.

"No." I briefly answered as I did my best to pull in much needed oxygen. "I don't think so."

Her body moved even closer, her silky cheek now pressing lightly against my temple as the ends of her hair accidentally tickled my neck

"I don't really know much about liquor myself, you know." She whispered, the air coming from her lips subtly being breathed in by my own.

"But my father makes red wine as a 'obby and I must admit, I 'ave always been fascinated by it."

"Why?" I instantly asked in a voice that was already far hoarser than it had been a minute ago.

"Ze reason is simple really," She calmly began, her entire body suddenly pulling so temptingly away as each word she spoke resonated in my mind.

"It is through wine making zat I learned of ze thing called ze aging process. It was something zat really 'elped me open my eyes to… so much more."

The hand holding my chin gently pushed up until her eyes could finally lock themselves upon mine once more, the intensity burning in her gaze immediately surprising me and causing me to try, vainly, to look away.

"People- a lot of zem, don't understand. Zey don't understand ze potential, ze magnificence hidden in zose tiny grapes many dismiss as insignificant so swiftly. Zey are blind… to a lot of zings. Zey don't see."

She softly murmured, her right hand gracefully moving upward as the rounded tips of her slender fingers brushed against my hair. Her sweet, velvety voice effortlessly lulling me into a sense of safety…

Of care.

Of adoration.

"Zey don't see past ze tangled, but yes, tamable and lustrous green vines that curl so protectively, so elegantly around ze beautiful fruits."

The flawless pads of her fingers delicately followed the curved contour of my right eyebrow, cherishing each short strand as if they were weaved by the gods themselves as the silky timbre of her voice gradually became huskier…

Rougher, but still so very much like the pure sound of utter perfection.

"Zey don't see ze curious, ze exquisite shine zat appears when ze light hits zose gorgeous orbs in just ze right angle."

The warmth of her skin seemed to yearningly, almost achingly slide down the angular line of my nose, as if it would never have enough of touching me.

As if _only _touching me would not be enough.

Would never be enough.

"Zey don't see ze changes," She lovingly continued, her full pink lips trembling faintly in the abundant passion that she poured into each letter that was released from her with every calculated breath.

Warm puffs of air that effortlessly danced to me, teasing my skin with light and tantalizing caresses.

"Ze small but precise changes that comes with age. Ze ones zat 'elp ze 'arshness of ze wine's youth gradually give way to softness, as its inky dark color eventually fades…"

Her thumb slowly pulled down my mouth before knowingly dragging my lower lip and causing my mouth to open just the slightest bit; allowing a shaky sigh to escape me.

"To a lighter, more _luscious_ red."

She seductively purred, her sapphire eyes purposely narrowing in barely concealed want and pleasure.

An enthralling kaleidoscope of emotions that promptly made my chest constrict as my heart swiftly quickened its pace; two actions that I truly believed shouldn't be so simultaneous with each other.

"Yes, zey don't see ze beauty… Ze budding perfection that is right before zeir very eyes."

Her cool tone gradually heated, her calm demeanor taking on a more possessive- a more selfish stance.

One that was now fused into her very gaze, her very actions; with her right hand currently sliding- so teasingly down the vertical expanse of my neck as her left one impossibly tightened its grip.

A physical claim that I could no longer deny, of her-

And of myself.

"Ze subtle flawlessness zat steadily grows better wiz time." She victoriously continued when I didn't pull away.

And how could I?

When all I ever asked for…

"Ze kind of wine zat if I could, I would keep with me for always… as I savor each and every sweet drop it would allow me…"

Is _this_?

Her right hand finally stopped moving, her smooth palm resting against the cottony cloth that hid my now erratically beating heart, her perfect lips gracefully curved in the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.

A beautiful smile that was steadily coming closer.

Closer.

Until all I could see was pink.

The most beautiful-

The only color…

That now made my heart-

"I do wish you would forgive me," She suddenly whispered, her soft lips now barely a millimeter away from my own: her sapphire eyes fluttering close; with her lashes casting slight shadows on her pale cheeks.

An image that I hastily did my best to engrave into my mind as I struggled to exhale.

"Why?" I carefully breathed out; my own eyes obediently following her firm lead.

"Because I just can't control my thirst any longer…"

Then her lips were wholly pressed against mine.

And I could no longer do anything but agree with her.

Wine making truly is fascinating…

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Author's Notes: Like it? Hate it? Let me know, constructive criticism always helps a writer. Just click the little button at the bottom! Thanks!

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H.O.D.


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